(inspirational music) - Are you gonna turn your
hardships into diamonds? Are you gonna change your life by learning new technologies? Networking is always changing. (escalating music) (inspirational music) Don't let your problems stop you. Don't let your insecurities stop you. Turn your life around and make the most of the time you have. There's always opportunities to learn. There's always opportunities
to grow the network. So why dont you change your life? Turn your problems and your coal and your hardships into diamonds. (inspirational music) You need to learn technologies
such as the Linux, Python, Ansible, Network Automation, learn the new things and change your life. (inspirational music) Find something that motivates
you. What motivates you? Is it the rubbish
situation that you're in? The pain that you're
experiencing in your current job? The boss that gives you a hard time, find something that's gonna motivate you. As an example, my family motivates me. You've gotta find your
inspiration and a reason to work and a reason to put the hours in. Here's one of the reasons that I have, and this is Lauren. So, Lauren, what do you
always tell daddy to do? - Back to work! Back to work, Alex! - And then you go, so, I have to go back to work. Why must daddy got back to work? - I need toys! I need toys. I need sweets. 'Cause I need books and cakes. And hungry and sandwiches and toys! - Okay, so Daddy must work, because you want books, sandwiches, toys, and nice things, is that right? - Hmm-mm.
- Good. - And make up and cameras! - Ah, you want cameras as well, do yo? - Hm-mm.
- Good. - Back to work, Daddy. - Don't let your career crash and burn. Watch my video, which I've linked here. If you need some motivation, but there are many
motivational videos on YouTube that you can watch if you need to get some
motivation to change your life. But here's an example, from
my personal experience. Now after school, I went to university, but unfortunately I was only
able to go to university for one year and I had to drop out because of financial
difficulties or financial issues. So there I was, 19 years old, and I had to drop out of university. It was a devastating blow for me. I had my whole life planned out. I assumed that I would
become a mechanical engineer and have a great career, but there I was after one year and I couldn't continue with
my university education. I had to go and take a job in retail. Now, if any of you have worked in retail, you know that retailing
involves long working hours. I was working six days a
week, long hours every day. Now here's a principle I
think you need to remember. Make sure that your older
self thanks your younger self for the decisions that
your younger self has made. In other words, make good decisions today so
that yourself in 10 years' time or 20 years' time or whatever, thanks you for the decisions
that you made today. So I say thank you to my younger
self for making the choice to study part time. So I was working these long
hours, six days a week. And in the evening I was studying, fortunately I was 19 years old. So I was young and had a lot of energy. I didn't have a girlfriend at the time. I simply focused on doing
my work during the day and studying at night. And what I managed to do was
complete a three year degree in three years, part time,
working like a crazy person. But that was a good decision
that my younger self made. Fortunately, my younger self also made another good decision. I had heard about Microsoft
and information technology. And I studied part time again
in the evening for MCSE, so my Microsoft engineer certification. In those days, it was NT4,
so quite a long time ago. But what I did is I spoke
to my boss at the time and I arranged that I'd work longer hours on other days so that
I could shorten one day and then I would drive two
hours to go and attend a class. So I was fortunate enough
to make the arrangement that I would put in
extra hours on other days so that I could take off two
or three hours on a Tuesday. And then I would drive two
hours to go and attend a class. So I'd worked basically a normal day that most people would work, get off two or three hours early, drive two hours and go and attend a class and then drive two hours back home again. So that's how I managed to get my MCSE. I worked full time, got
my degree part time, got my MCSE, my first IT
certification part time. And then doors started opening for me. Now that wasn't the end of it. I was working in a
information technology role, supporting windows, machines, and desktops when I heard about Cisco. Unfortunately, my younger self saw that Cisco was gonna be very important. So what did I do? I studied for my CCNA. I paid to attend Cisco classes. In those days there wasn't
any online material. So I paid it to attend classes myself and I paid for the exam myself. So in other words, rather than spending
money on drink or parties or other things, I took
the little money I had, loaned some other money
and attended classes and invested in myself. I made the decision to
get certified in Cisco and that opened up even more doors. And I eventually became a CCIE. So why am I telling you this? I'm telling you that if
you're stuck in a dead end job or what seems to be a dead end job, you can change your life just like I changed my life. Don't believe that you're
stuck where you are. It's so much easier today
to change your life. In those days, we didn't have the internet
like we have today. We didn't have smart
phones like we have today. The only thing that's stopping you is you and how you manage your time. You may say that you have no time. Look seriously at what
you're doing with your time. Again, have a look at my other video where I talk about time management. If you want more time management tips, let me know. I'm telling you that today
you can make a change in your life in a way that wasn't possible when I was younger, the Internet has opened
up a world of learning and you have the chance to change your life through education. What's stopping you from
studying something new every day and changing your life? Don't stagnate. Don't let your career
come to a grinding halt. Don't let it crash and burn. Keep on studying, keep on learning, keep on adapting. (inspirational music)
